1.
Did you drink
from the fountain of Hippocrene
or just watch the muses
bathe? The notes
of your song are pure
like a lover’s skin.
2.
I have no plum tree
to sit under while composing.
3.
The blankness of the River Lethe
denies us a future.
Unable to remember
we cannot learn from past mistakes.
When did we entwine
your perfect notes so sinuously
with death and danger?
This is no floor that guards
against assassins; we do not need
to choose between the lark and nightingale.